November 1st, 2010 / 3:30 pm
Random

Conserve your brain: don’t wear that hat!

I went to a party a few weeks back, and a friend of mine had on the most dazzling head garment. Every time I looked at her head, I was fascinated. And still, I was taken aback when I learned its name: the fascinator. The double entendre is complete in the fact that it both fascinates and is fastened. I love puns.

Look at this fascinator to your right. Isn’t it fascinating? Couldn’t you look at this for hours? Now, imagine seeing this on a person. What could you possibly say that would be as fittingly fascinating? I would feel lost before I could even speak.

A few weeks back, I had a conversation with the fabulous Molly Gaudry about hats. She was looking for a hat to top off (pun!) her reading “costume.” I made a plea for her to go with a birdcage with veil, which is a hot trend right now—as evidenced in their proliferation in clothing stores such as Forever 21—but she decided to go a hat with more pizzazz.

But these two conversations made me think more about hats.

In Canada, we call winter hats “tuques.” This is funny.

This is not to be confused with toques.

Another favorite of mine is the sloucher.

And the porkpie.

And the boss of the plains.

What is fascinating about all these hats is their lack of functionality. Whereas some hats, such as the boss of the plains, the chullo, or the patty hat, shield the head from weather, they don’t really protect the head from injury. Many military hats exist strictly for show. I’ve even seen bicycle helmets for show.

What do you do to protect your head? Or maybe these hats tell a narrative about our emphasis on style and accessorizing over function. After all, we need only look at women’s pants—or skinny pants in general—to see how little functionality functions in our decisions regarding fashion.

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10 Comments

  1. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I want a fascinator.

  2. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      oh my god, I want EVERYTHING from this shop, I wish I could afford it.

      STARTING A KICKSTARTER FOR HATS.

  3. Tim Jones-Yelvington
  4. lily hoang
  5. Molly Gaudry

      that butterfly one is some crazy, timjy.

      i went with the cheap birdcage veil instead, lily!

      this post is funny. i want a tuques.

  6. lily hoang

      molly: those other choices were mighty decadent, but i’m sure whatever your chose, you pulled it off handsomely.

      it’s funny, i was watching dexter yesterday (i’m catching up, just finished season 2), and a character said she bought a tuque (to go on a snowy vacation), and i was shocked to hear a character who’s supposed to be from florida using the word. calling a winter hat a tuque is one of the most charming things about canada.

  7. Matthew Simmons

      A hat would go really good with my brand new Fuzzy Cross. I was thinking of going with an eight-pie tweed newsboy.

  8. MM

      Yelv get yourself outtev that packed phallic pile o skyscraper — you’ve too many damsels upping the price. This might be morbid, but ask yourself: where do old ladies bide before they die? Then thrift there.

      I pass these things up all the time in my sad abode. I should start collecting them to send yankees like you care packages.

      Even better — befriend a milliner. Everyone responds to the universal currency: offer free cookies.

  9. Monica Mody

      I can totally see myself wearing the sloucher.

  10. ZZZZZIPPP

      WHY DOES A TUQUE HAVE NO FUNCTION? IF ZZZZIPP’S PHOTONS FREEZE UP HE COULD DIE.

      AND ISN’T A CEREMONIAL PURPOSE ALSO A FUNCTION? WHEN ZZZZIPP IS LOST HE ALWAYS LOOKS FOR THE HUMAN BEING WITH THE LARGEST HAT.